Family Reunion
by Arazei
Summary: Arthur attends a family reunion where he can't keep his eyes off of someone. Merthur AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I've been having a terrible urge to write something that involved Merthur, but I didn't have any idea. But then my cousin said _"Hey, remember that waiter from our family reunion that looked like he could be Arthur's little brother? How about that?"_. So I kind of found inspiration there and this happened. I'm not sure if I'll write a second chapter or any more chapters, depends whether I feel like it and whether I will or will not hate myself for this in the next few days.

Sorry for any mistakes, this is not my mother language, it's not beta'd and written in the middle of the night, so I'm sorry again if something is wrong.

Reviews and favourites highly appreciated.

Enjoy!

* * *

He realized it as soon as he arrived.

_This was a bad idea._

Arthur didn't even now why he agreed to come in the first place. The Pendragon and de Bois Family Reunion. Second one. The first one took place ten years ago, when he was fifteen. This one was held in a small village, Camelot, two hours ride from London. It was typical countryside with fields and animals all around. It was where his ancestors were born and where most of the elderly from the families lived now. His grandparent from his mother's side was a mayor now.

He guessed it was because of Morgana; that's why he agreed. She said that he has to go so she won't get lonely. Funny, because she was taking her boyfriend as her plus one.

The _venue_, which Arthur hated, was an old fire-station, built by his great-great-grandfather, also from his mother's side, that was later transformed into a place that could be used for events such as this one. The place was horrible, mostly because the only air conditioning and sense of fresh air were the opened windows above their heads and wide opened doors causing a draught. And the weather was being a complete bastard that day, with its scorching sun and high temperature.

And there he was, seated in the corner surrounded by his family. Although most of them were his relatives, he actually knew around ten or fifteen people there. On his left he had Morgana, his half-sister and her boyfriend Leon.

A lot of the younger people brought someone with them, girlfriends, boyfriends, whatever. Arthur hasn't brought any plus one; his last relationship ended few weeks earlier. His family probably wouldn't' approve of the choice anyway.

On his right he had the only person he actually talked to a few times that lived in a village, his cousin, Mordred. The kid was eighteen and he was the only person, apart from Morgana, that he hung out or talked to that night. Arthur found out that he is going to move to London once he gets into Uni. He was glad; it meant he'll get to see Mordred more often and he really liked his company, he was fun to be around.

The whole plan of the reunion was to start off with a service in the local church and then have dinner, get drunk and _catch up._ Arthur was only looking forward to the drinking part. But first they served the dinner.

He was really doubting his decision to come here and participate in all two days of the reunion (the second one being a barbecue right outside the station). He was hot, the music was awful and tacky and the family was, well, just being family; a very nosy one. He lost count of how many people said they remembered him from when he was younger (even though he didn't remember any of them) and how many people asked him why he didn't bring his girlfriend. He was just answering "_I'm single"_ over and over. He kept the _"I'm gay" _part to himself, though.

He was considering leaving early until something happened. Or _someone_ happened. When it was time to serve the food, the waiters started to walk out from the kitchen with platters full of different dishes and one of them caught Arthur's attention. Not the dish. The waiter. And he was actually waiting the part of the room where he sat.

The boy looked like he might have been eighteen or nineteen. He was tall and lean; skinny, actually. He had very dark, raven hair and his ears were sticking out, big time. He was in the uniform that the rest of the waiters had on; black dress trousers, white dress shirt, burgundy tie and a waistcoat. When the boy was putting the dishes on Arthur's table, the blond noticed that he owned a pair of the bluest, deepest and the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen.

Arthur couldn't take his eyes off of that guy for the rest of the night. Every time he came out of the kitchen his gaze would automatically turn towards the boy and follow him everywhere he went. In the mean time he was also drinking one shot of vodka after another, exchanging some stories with Mordred. When Arthur was around halfway drunk, he felt like having a beer. He looked around but the only thing that was on the tables was what hey were drinking right now.

"Can I get a beer here?" he asked Mordred hoping to hear a _yes._

"Sure, but you have to ask in the kitchen, I think it's all in the back. They were planning to put vodka on the tables tonight and leave the beer for tomorrow afternoon." Mordred answered. Arthur nodded and slowly rose from his seat.

He's managed to get to the kitchen without tripping and falling over. Maybe he was more than halfway drunk. There were only four people in the kitchen now, the rest, around 4 other waiters, were outside having a break. Two girls were washing up the dishes and a girl and a guy were drying them. He realised way too late that the guy who was there was the one that Arthur kept staring at all evening. Suddenly, Arthur felt like a teenage girl that was awkwardly standing in front of her crush that she's never spoken to before. He was afraid to embarrass himself. He's quite famous for his drunk adventures among his friends.

"Can we help you?" the guy asked looking directly at Arthur. Now he felt intimidated by those eyes. _Beautiful eyes_, he thought to himself.

"Er" he stuttered, "yes. Can I get a beer here? Um, my cousin said I should ask you." Arthur answered with some difficulties. Yes, he was definitely drunk.

"Sure." He smiled. _Oh, he has quite the smile too,_ Arthur thought. The boy went into another room, further in the back, probably some storage. He came back with two bottles and a bottle opener. He handed the drinks and the tool to Arthur. „Here you go." The guy smiled again.

"Thanks." Arthur mumbled. He turned around to get back to the table.

"You look like you've had some already. You sure you want to drink more?"

"Yeah, I can hold my liquor." Arthur finally left the kitchen but as soon as he did, he leant his back against the wall right next to the kitchen door. He sighed heavily. He was really attracted to the guy, even though he was most probably around 7 years younger than him. And he didn't even know his name. He was just about to go back to Mordred when he heard one of the girl in the kitchen.

"That guy has been checking you out all evening."

"No, he hasn't."

A pause.

"He has?"

"Yeah. I think it's creepy. He's probably like thirty."

_I'm twenty-five._

"It's not creepy. It's flattering. And you're jealous because I always get the guys."

"Ha, ha, very funny, Merlin."

_Merlin. So that's his name._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you guys very much for all the follows and favourites and for those two reviews. It's amazing to know that there are actual people who want to read this.

I've been trying to make this chapter longer, but I've been struggling with it for over a week now. I couldn't write anything past the last sentence. So I thought that I'll publish this and try to start working on chapter three.

I hope you like it. Thanks for reading, following, reviewing. It means a lot.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Merlin.

* * *

Arthur went back to the table, slightly swaying left and right in the process. He sat down, opened the bottles of beer in his hands and offered one to Mordred, which he gladly took. And then Arthur saw Merlin walking out of the kitchen again to collect the plates and other dishes that may have been overlooked earlier. Te blond focused his gaze on the other man as soon as his head popped out from behind the wall. After a minute of staring Merlin looked into Arthur's direction and their eyes met. A shiver run through Arthur's body and suddenly he felt hot. He looked down and took sip of beer from the bottle. When he looked back up all he saw was Merlin's back.

"Do you know who that is?" Arthur asked Mordred and pointed at Merlin.

"Oh God, I've been waiting for you to ask that all evening." Mordred exclaimed bursting into laughter.

"Wait… what?" Arthur obliviously stared at his cousin.

"Seriously, you should cut down on those puppy eyes and talk to him. But answering your question, yes, I do know who he is. His name's Merlin Emrys. Lives here with his mother and uncle. His mother owns a diner here and his uncle is a chemist, the only one over here. I know him from school, he graduated last year. He helps his mother at the diner, works at a café, takes up waiting at stuff like this." Mordred explained.

"You know quite a bit about him."

"It's a small town, everyone knows everyone. Sometimes it's a blessing, but most of the time it feels like a curse." Mordred chuckled. "Also, I happen to know that he swings your way so you should ask him out or something."

"And how the hell do you know I'm gay?" Arthur looked at the other man with questioning look. Mordred just raised his eyebrows. "Morgana." The blond sighed.

"Yeah, your sister talks a lot." Mordred said. "Hey, do you want to go outside, get some air? I think most of the people are outside." he suggested. Arthur looked around. Indeed, the tables were quite empty; only few people here and there. The blond nodded so they got up and went outside. Arthur was still feeling a bit dizzy. That was definitely enough of alcohol for him.

It was already dark outside and the only source of light was a single light bulb hanging above the entrance. People were scattered in front of the building in groups of four or five people; talking and laughing. Mordred and Arthur walked over to the side. There was a huge family tree that was painted on a piece of metal. It was the same that they had put up last time, only this one had some more names on it.

"So, what re you going to study?" Arthur asked. He himself was now lawyer and was working at his father's firm, one of the biggest in the city. Maybe he wasn't completely happy with the choice, since he did that, because his father told him to, but it was fine.

"History. I think I want to be a teacher." Mordred answered. "I'm not sure yet, though. We'll see."

"And are you moving in with someone or just alone?"

"Alone. Most of the kids are either staying here, you know, help their parents and all and the only guy I'd ever consider living with is going to study in Scotland and I don't think I want to live with a stranger. But on the other hand I couldn't find anything within my budget so far. So as of now I'm kind of fucked." Mordred sighed.

"You still have like two months, though, right?" Mordred nodded. Arthur felt sorry for his cousin. He knew that finding a place of your own can be harder than it seems. His first flat was quite horrendous and the neighbourhood was sketchy. But it was cheap. And when Arthur was starting Uni he was the rebellious teenager that didn't want any of his father's money. Now that he has a good job, he has the money to live somewhere decent. Then an idea appeared in his head. His place was big. Big enough for one more person to live in so he popped a question.

"Why don't you move in with me?"

"What?" Mordred looked at him confused.

"Seriously. I have a spare bedroom, usually Morgana uses it when she has some stuff to take care of in London. So you could take it. And as for the rent, you won't have to pay much. And I heard your mother marvelling about your cooking. You could take care of groceries and cook once in a while. It could work. And when you decide, you can always find a place of your own later." Arthur smiled at his cousin.

"And you really wouldn't mind?" he asked.

"I would not. Just don't have sex while I'm in the house. That would be awkward." Arthur said and they burst out laughing.

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Is that a yes?"

"Sure!" Mordred exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Great. I'll give you my number tomorrow. And my e-mail address so you can tell me when you take care of all stuff here and when you can move in." Arthur smiled at him.

The next half hour, still outside, Arthur was telling Mordred about his flat, where it was situated exactly, what's close to it. He also told him that his four other friends live in the same building. Lancelot and Gwen, a couple, live on the same floor and Gwaine and Percival, not yet a couple, but Arthur thinks that soon they will be; they live a floor below them. As he was telling Mordred a story about one party Gwaine threw, which he actually didn't remember much from due to the fact that he got epically drunk, he noticed that Merlin and one of the girls from the kitchen went outside too, most probably for a break. His heart stopped when the girl whispered something to Merlin and pushed him slightly towards the direction of where Arthur and Mordred were standing. _Oh God_, Arthur thought. Mordred noticed that Arthur stopped talking so he looked around. When he spotted Merlin coming towards them, he nudged Arthur.

"Dude, you're on your own." He said and before Arthur could say anything, he walked away, waving at Morgana who just walked out of the building.

The blond looked back at Merlin who was dangerously close to him now. His head suddenly went blank and his heart started beating way too fast. _Calm down, you don't even know him. Yet._


End file.
